HANDS ON LEARNING

This week my friend Dennie, who works for the Iowa DNR, came by with a large cooler full of native fish species for the kids to check out.

Here they're checking out the sharp scoots that run down the back and along the side of a shovlnose sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus platorynchus.

In the mainstream Mississippi River, numbers of shovelnose sturgeon have decreased sharply since 1900 (Becker 1983), although the species is still commonly taken by commercial fishermen. While shovelnose sturgeon roe is used as an acceptable caviar, over harvest has become a major detriment to the species. Alteration of large rivers and construction of locks and dams for navigation purposes has contributed significantly to the decline of shovelnose sturgeon by blocking access to ancestral spawning grounds.

 Dennie is also a great wealth of knowledge about Iowas 45 native  fresh water mussels.

 

Freshwater mussels are also an important part
of Iowa’s history. Searching for pearls imbedded
in mussels was a common hobby in the mid to
late 1800s. By 1899, 41 factories in Iowa alone
used freshwater mussel shells to make buttons,
but the introduction of plastic buttons brought
the pearl button industry to a halt in the 1940s.

Bellevue was home to a pearl button factory, a common industry in river towns, where mussels were harvested from the river to make buttons.

Bellevue, seems serene. But it, has the rowdy history of a river town. Bellevue was known as a haven for thieves and counterfeiters.  Twice I've been involved with the reenactment of the Bellevue War.  Once as a good citizen and once as one of the outlaws.

The Outlaws hung out at Brown’s Hotel until vigilante groups joined the sheriff in what became known as the Bellevue War to clear them out in the 1840s. The crooks were set adrift with only a few days supplies, and threatened with hanging if they returned.

Hisstoric Grist Mill For Sale.

  I wore Beau's boots thinking they would keep my feet dry and warm.  Well, not so much.  I've got a leak in my right boot.  He's got a leak in both boots.  So, I'm starting the day out with two wet feet.  After trying to fly rod out behind the old mill.
If any  one is looking to buy.  This ones for sale.


In 1843, Capt. Elbridge Gerry Potter came to the Bellevue area from New Lebanon, Illinois seeking the ideal location for his new merchant flour mill. He had traveled up and down the Mississippi searching for the right combination of factors for a successful milling business and for a peaceful and scenic area to settle.

Capt. Potter formed a partnership with a local millwright, John Gammel, to build his flour mill on the Big Mill Creek. Limestone from the bluffs across the creek was used for both the foundation of the building and the eleven foot thick dam. Local timber was cut and an additional 73,000 board feet of logs were purchased to complete the structure. Throughout the building are the original hand-hewn walnut and oak beams, 45 feet long and 15 inches square. Total construction cost was about $40,000.

Potter’s Mill was in operation by 1845, with flour being sold to customers in St. Louis, New Orleans, Cincinnati, and New York among others. Capt. Potter bought wheat from Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as from local farmers.

During this period, power came from the overshot waterwheel located on the south side of the structure. In the late 1860's, the limestone dam was raised to its current height (the remaining portion of the dam is now the west wall of our "Stone Room" dining area) to accommodate the installation of six turbines which in turn ran six sets of milling stones. Peak flour production at this time was 200 barrels per day.

E.G. Potter sold the mill in 1871 to Kilborn and Co. The Kilborns were bought out in 1881 by Arnold Reiling, whose family owned it for 38 years. Reiling then sold it and it was operated by several different owners until the Dyas family bought the mill in 1931.

On May 24, 1896, a flash flood, caused by 14 inches of rain falling in 12 hours, rushed down Big Mill Creek, knocking out another dam upstream and tearing out the Mill’s spillway and a frame office. An old photo of the damaged structure the day after the flood is on the first floor.

It was decided not to rebuild the spillway, so a 35 horsepower Atlas steam engine was installed and connected to the repairable shaftworks. Production capability fell to 50 barrels per day. Later, electricity replaced the steam engine. In 1969, after 126 years of production, the machinery ground to a halt. 

In 1980, Daryll and Carolyn Eggers bought the building at an auction and began reconstruction on the creekside foundation which had crumbled dangerously. Local craftsmen like Marty, Jim, Frog, Blitchen and Duke. preserved as much of the original structure and interior as possible.

In the early 1990's Susie and I both worked at the mill.  Sue as the hostess and I worked as a bar tender in the evenings for a  few years.  If your looking for your own little piece of history let me know.

While your here stop in and check out susie's art..... THANKS

 And here is my wife Susie's new website/blog too.

http://beckervue.com/

Susan Becker on Etsy

www.etsy.com/people/susansusanb

A RECORD SETTING DAY!

With record setting high temperatures here in eastern Iowa, reaching the lower 50* mark.  Hitting the stream after school seemed like the right thing to do.

Once I got to the stream I got side tracked.  After hearing the story of a local deer hunter finding a five inch spear point in a cave along the maquoketa river.  I had to hike a few of the trails along the stream to check out some of the south facing rock shelters.

                                                       "Rockshelters"  like these are not an actual cave. The Woodland Culture is the most well known prehistoric culture in the Maquoketa River valley. As early as 2500 years ago,many prehistoric Woodland Indians groups would live in them, at least during parts of the year.

Even when it is very cold in the winter, it is out of the wind and faces the winter sun. It often feels very comfortable here even on cold winter days.  This one overlooked the trout stream and sat about 100 feet up above the hole that holds a few trout.  I ran my fingers through the warm,dry limestone dust hoping to filter out a point but no, luck.

Back in October of last year,  I hit some "new water"  so today I went back to see if I could catch the big one that got a way.  This was about the 4th or 5th time I've returned to the stream. 

Armed with my new  fly rod in hand with a small spinner on the line  I worked on my casting.  The weight of the spinner set up is just a little heavier than I like to use.  But after a few cast I was able to get the timing down enough to make a pretty decent cast.             

The stream conditions were clear and the pool where I had first missed this large trout had some new brush  in the water that I thought would hold a few fish.  After only a few cast I saw a flash of silver rise near the surface an strike my lure.  I let him run with it this time and then I set the hook.  I've got him this time.  Now, to land him.  Played him out, a quick snap shot of my new personal best;  17 inches and about 2 pounds then back into the water.  

  

"The days a man spends fishing or spends hunting should not be deducted from the time he's on earth. " Theodore Roosevelt